Articles Posted in Mutual Funds

In a settlement with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, a number of Cetera Financial Group brokerage firms have agreed to collectively pay $3.3M for not properly supervising whether mutual fund sales charge waivers were applied correctly clients at charitable organizations and in retirement plans. The firms that have settled include Cetera Financial Specialists, Cetera Investment Services, Summit Brokerage Services, First Allied Securities, and Girard Securities.

The $3.3M is how much these clients were excessively charged plus interest for the mutual funds that they bought from July 2009 to July 2017. According to the self-regulatory organization, the brokerage firms either: charged front-end sales charges to charitable organization and retirement plan customers that bought A shares in mutual funds even though they were eligible to have these fees waived or sold them class C/B shares while charging them back-end sales charges and “higher ongoing fees and expenses.”

FINRA accused the Cetera firms of not reasonably supervising the way the sales charges waivers were applied to the mutual fund sales and leaving it up to financial advisers to decide whether the waivers should be applied. The SRO also contends that the broker-dealers did not maintain written policies and procedures that were adequate enough to help financial advisers in making such determinations.

Continue Reading ›

Financial Firm and Its CEO Settle Life Settlement Fraud Charges
The US Securities and Exchange Commission announced that Verto Capital Management and its CEO William Schantz III have settled civil charges accusing them of running a Ponzi-like scam involving life settlements. As part of the settlement, Verto Capital and Schantz will pay over $4M.

According to the regulator’s complaint, the two of them raised about $12.5M through promissory note sales that were supposed to pay for the firm’s purchase and sale of life settlements. The notes were sold mostly through insurance brokers in Texas.

Investors who were religious were the main target of the alleged fraud.They were allegedly told that that the securities were short-term investments that were at low risk of defaulting.

Continue Reading ›

Voya Accused of Not Disclosing Revenue Received for Mutual Fund Sales
The US Securities and Exchange Commission said that Voya Financial Advisors (VOYA) would pay approximately $3.1M to regulators and investors for not telling customers about revenue the firm was paid related to a mutual fund program that didn’t bill transaction fees. Voya’s clearing broker-dealer paid the firm a percentage of the money made from the mutual fund sales. This was information that should have been shared with investors.

Also, since 2014, Voya and the third-party brokerage firm were involved in a separate agreement under which Voya provided certain administrative services in return for a percentage of service fees involving certain mutual funds. The regulator said that these payments were a conflict because they gave Voya incentive to preference these funds over other investments, which could have impacted what the firm recommended to advisory clients. As part of the settlement, Voya will pay about $2.6M of disgorgement, approximately $175K of interest, and a $300K penalty. The firm is not, however, denying or admitting to the SEC’s findings.

Fired Waddell & Reed Broker is Barred from the Securities Industry
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has barred an ex-Waddell & Reed Inc. broker from the industry. Paul D. Stanley was fired from the firm last year for allegedly violating its policies regarding supervision, compensation, and conduct.

Continue Reading ›

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority says that Oppenheimer & Co. (OPY) must pay $3.4M in sanctions. According to the regulator, for eight years the firm was about four years late when submitting 365 filings about disciplinary actions that it brought against its brokers and in arbitration and litigation settlements. FINRA is also accusing Oppenheimer of not giving seven claimants the documentation they needed in their arbitration against Mark Hotton, an ex-registered representative, and of overcharging 825 customers more than $1M collectively for mutual fund shares over a six-year period.

The self-regulatory organization claims that the late filings to FINRA took place between 2008 and 2016 and that Oppenheimer failed to provide claimants the documentation related to the Mark Hotton allegations between 2010 and 2013. The failure to apply the appropriate fee waiver discount for mutual fund shares purportedly occurred between 2009 and 2015.

Already, Oppenheimer has paid over $6M to settle customer disputes alleging inadequate supervision of Hotton and another $1.25M to 22 customers who did not file arbitration cases but suffered losses, too. Oppenheimer also was ordered to pay a $2.5M fine to FINRA last year over the Hotton claims. The former broker, whom FINRA permanently barred from the securities industry three years ago, was sentenced sentenced to 11 years in prison for stealing client monies and excessively trading their brokerage accounts.

Continue Reading ›

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has put out an emergency asset freeze against Peter Kohli, a former broker. According to the regulator, the Pennsylvania resident bilked at least 120 investors when he fraudulently raised over $3.2M from them between 2012 and 2015. The regulator attributes the funds collapse to the ex-broker’s “extreme recklessness.”

At the time, Kohli was CEO and president of DMS Advisors, a dually-registered investment adviser and brokerage firm. He began the DMS Funds series, comprised of four emerging market mutual funds, in 2012. The SEC claims that he overstated the funds’  level of sophistication while disregarding the risk that he and DMS Advisors might not be able to cover certain expenses.

The Commission claims  that Kohli stole money from investors as the funds became beleaguered and he committed three other frauds to keep his scam going.  He also purportedly misappropriated money he solicited to invest in one of the funds and his accused of drawing in two kinds of investments in Marshad Capital Group, which was DMS advisors’ holding company.

Continue Reading ›

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority said that a UBS Group AG (UBS) unit will pay $250K to resolve charges accusing it of not waiving certain fees for mutual fund customers that were eligible for the reduction. FINRA said that the broker-dealer overcharged customers $277,636 to invest in mutual funds. The failure to wave these fees purportedly took place from 9/09 to 6/13.

The self-regulatory organization cited alleged supervisory failures. According to the settlement notice, UBS depended largely on its registered representatives to identify when sales charge waivers were warranted and identifying them. These waivers were linked to the reinstatement rights that let investors get around having to pay front-end sales charges.

Under these rights, individual investors are generally allowed to reinvest money made from selling class A mutual fund shares in the same fund family or the same fund without having to pay fees at the front end. They are given 90-120 days to reinvest for the waiver to be applicable.

Continue Reading ›

The Securities and Exchange Commission has arrived at a global settlement with State Street Bank and Trust Company. According to the regulator, State Street misled custody clients, including mutual funds, about hidden markups that were added to foreign currency exchange trades. The firm will pay $382.4M, including $167M in penalties and disgorgement to the Commission, a $155M penalty to the U.S. Justice Department, and at least $60M to ERISA plan clients.

Among the other services it provides, State Street facilitates indirect foreign currency exchange trading for clients so that they can sell and purchase foreign currencies in transactions involving foreign securities. An SEC probe found that State Street made a substantial chunk of money in revenue when it misled some clients about Indirect FX, claimed that it offered the most competitive rates on trades, charged “market rates,” and provided “best execution.” The Commission contends that the company did not try to get the best prices for clients.

The SEC believes that State Street concealed markups so that custody clients would not notice. It also found that registered investment company custody clients were given monthly transaction reports and trade confirmations that were materially misleading because of misrepresentations about foreign currency exchange transaction pricing.

Continue Reading ›

Securities and Exchange Commission to Audit RIAs Over Mutual Fund Share Classes
The SEC has announced that it will audit registered investment advisers so that it can examine the kinds of mutual fund share classes that they sell to clients. Share class recommendations and compliance are of particular interest to the regulator.

Because RIAs are fiduciaries, they have a duty to uphold their clients’ best interests. This includes selecting the lowest-cost share classes and 529 plan investments on a client’s behalf, depending on the latter’s investment goals. The Commission wants to see whether conflicts of interest exist, such as when an adviser is also the brokerage firm or is affiliated with a firm that garners fees from selling certain mutual fund share classes.

The SEC also wants to look at whether RIAs are disclosing if there is anyone getting paid compensation for the sale of either mutual fund share classes or other investment products. The fee might be a charge for the actual sale or a fee incurred according to the assets sold.

SEC Adopts Amendments to Regulation SBSR
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has adopted guidance and amendments for Regulation SBSR, which includes rules for the public dissemination and regulatory reporting of security-based swap transactions. The rules and guidance were created to enhance transparency in the market for security-based swaps. They were mandated under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

Continue Reading ›

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has announced that PNC Investments will pay nearly $225K in restitution for charging retirement clients too much for mutual fund investments. According to the regulator, the brokerage firm did not apply waivers for investors in certain Class A share mutual funds even though there was a waiver for front-end charges for eligible customers.

Instead, said FINRA, PNC Investments sold Class A shares customers with a front-end load or other shares that had a back-end load and higher fees and expenses, some of which were charged on an ongoing basis. Because of this, certain customers were charged excessive fees and paid them.

FINRA said that PNC Investments charged 121 customer accounts in excess of $191,740 for mutual funds—although the actual amount, with interest, was closer to $224,750. PNC will pay restitution to eligible investors.

The brokerage firm self-reported the overcharges after reviewing its own conduct last year to assess whether it was issuing the sales waiver to those that were eligible. FINRA said that the broker-dealer experienced lapses in supervision, did not keep up written policies and procedures that were adequate, and failed to help advisers assess when to waive the sales charges.

Continue Reading ›

FINRA Accuses Ex-Broker of Unsuitable Trading Involving Mutual Funds
David Randall Lockey, a former broker, is facing Financial Industry Regulatory Authority charges for allegedly engaging in improper trading of customer accounts while associated with SWS Financial Services Inc. He is no longer with that firm, now called the Hilltop Securities Independent Network. According to the regulator, Lockey took part in “unsuitable short-term trading and switching” involving unit investment trusts and mutual funds in four accounts between ’12 and ’14.

Lockey purportedly made about $75,730 for himself and the firm while engaging in improper trading. Meantime, three of the four customers whose accounts he used sustained losses of $15,699. The fourth customer made a gain of almost $5,000.

FINRA said Lockey has not been registered with any broker-dealer since 2014.

Ex-TV Commentator Settles Penny Stock Fraud Charges with the SEC
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is charging former FOX commentator Tobin Smith with fraud. According to the regulator, Smith, who is also a market analyst, and his NBT Group fraudulently promoted a penny stock to investors.

The SEC said that both Smith and his firm received payments to prepare and distribute e-mails, articles, blogs, and other communication promoting IceWEB Inc. stock. They purportedly failed to fully disclose they were receiving the compensation.

The investors were not made aware of that part of what Smith and NBT were paid was linked to a sustained rise in the data storage company’s share price. The Commission said that marketing materials the investors received included misleading and false statements put there to artificially up the share price and trading volume of IceWEB stock. For example, payment for promotional efforts was $300K and IceWEB stock. NBT could also make over $250K if marketing campaigns proved successful.

Continue Reading ›

Contact Information